Bitcoin price zoomed past the $55,000 level on Wednesday, for the first time in two weeks, on the stimulus package announcement in the US. Prices of the world’s second-biggest cryptocurrency, ethereum, also topped the $1,800 mark.
At 5.50pm IST, the world’s oldest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, was trading at $55,051.36, up 1.7% after moving in the $53,337.05-55,748.97 range over the past 24 hours, as per CoinGecko. Ethereum was trading flat at $1,819.78, after hitting its 24-hour high of $1,883.85.
“Bitcoin has found a safe spot trading above $50,000. The price march is despite the fact that both the treasury yields and the US dollar index are moving up, which is not the usual behavior. Also, bitcoin balances held in exchanges are at the lowest level, indicating that most people won’t be selling their positions,” said Ashish Singhal, chief executive officer and co-founder, CoinSwitch Kuber, a crypto investment platform.
Bitcoin trading around 6% away from its lifetime high of $58,640.77 while ethereum is 11% below its all-time high of $2,042.93.
According to a Reuters report, the US House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to advance President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief bill, clearing the way for the measure to be considered on Wednesday.
“Over the last 24 hours, bitcoin has rallied above $55,000 mark owing to the stimulus package announced by the US senate. Norwegian conglomerate, Aker ASA has announced its plans to induct bitcoin into its business operations, which has the pushed the bitcoin price above $55,000. If the current trend continues, bitcoin is expected to touch $150,000-200,000 mark by the end of this year,” said Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin.
Meanwhile, other crypto currencies such as cardano, tether and ripple were trading up to 2% in the red.